U 599
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U 599 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 43 302 |
| Shipyard: | Blohm & Voss in Hamburg |
| Construction contract: | May 22, 1940 |
| Keel laying: | January 27, 1941 |
| Launch: | October 15, 1941 |
| Commissioning: | December 4, 1941 |
| Commanders: |
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| Flotilla: |
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| Calls: | an enterprise |
| Sinkings: |
no |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk by an air raid in October 1942 |
U 599 was a German type VII C submarine . This class was also called "Atlantic boat" because of its seaworthiness and endurance. The Navy put U 599 during the U-boat campaign in World War II, one in the north and in the central Atlantic.
Technical specifications
Immediately after the start of the war, Blohm & Voss was commissioned to build submarines for the Navy. From 1939 the capacity of the Hamburg shipyard was full with the construction of submarines. The efficient series production method of the shipyard was supposed to guarantee the annual production of 52 type VII C submarines. Diesel engines for 24 boats of this type were also manufactured under license for MAN . The two diesel engines of the type VII C boats enabled this model to travel over water at a speed of 17 knots . Such a boat had a maximum range of 6500 nm . Under water, the two electric motors, each 375 hp , were usually used, guaranteeing a speed of 7.6 knots. On the tower, U 599 carried an elongated, lying S-rune on a golden background.
commander
Wolfgang Breithaupt was born on September 19, 1913 in Hochheim and joined the Reichsmarine in 1933 . At the beginning of the war he served on the light cruiser Cologne . In February 1941 he was promoted to lieutenant captain, two months later he joined the U-Bootwaffe. Following his submarine training and a short time as a student commander, he took command of U 599 on December 4th , which he held until the boat sank.
commitment
U 599 left Kiel on August 27, 1942 for his first and only company. The North Atlantic and in particular the sea area around Newfoundland , from where the Allied convoys made their way to Europe, were planned as the area of operation. U 599 was assigned to the Lohß submarine group , which was supposed to track down these convoys.
Convoy battle
Findings from the B-Dienst enabled the German submarine command in September 1942 to identify the course of a convoy heading east from the North American east coast. The convoy SC 100 consisted of 24 merchant ships, which were secured by an escort of the US Navy. Two corvettes of the Canadian Navy also accompanied the convoy. They were intended for use as part of Operation Torch in the Mediterranean and were on their way to the British Isles. Following the exact details of the B-Dienst, Commander Breithaupt discovered SC 100 and began to pursue it, while U 599 sent short signals in order - in accordance with the specifications of the pack tactics - to bring further submarines. The submarine command, hoping for a successful convoy battle, tried to collect 21 submarines for a coordinated attack on SC 100 . At the same time, a storm developed in the area in question, which some of the German commanders referred to as a "hurricane" and made it difficult for them to come together and carry out a joint attack. Bad weather and correspondingly rough seas also made it impossible for Commander Breithaupt to carry out an attack and contact with the convoy was lost.
Sinking
A British Liberator bomber , which had been parked to protect the convoy KX 2 but had missed the convoy, discovered the surfaced U 599 on October 24 at 4:50 p.m. northwest of Cape Finisterre . The success of the attack was evidenced by a large puddle of oil that appeared a short time later at the point where the aircraft had attacked the submarine.
literature
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
- Clay Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
Notes and individual references
- ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 122.
- ↑ The abbreviation SC stood for "slow convoy".
- ↑ C. Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, pp. 66-67.
- ↑ This convoy was en route from Great Britain to Gibraltar .
- ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing vor München 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 , p. 96.